Apparatus for reproducing base-ball games.



A. A. HBYMAN. APPARATUS Foa REPRODUGING BASE BALL GAMES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,19I3.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

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A. A. HEYMAN.. APPARATUS PoR nnpaonuomo BASE BALL GAMES,

APPLIOATIQH FILED JUNEL7.191 3. 1,126,636I Patented Jan.26,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ALBERT A. HEYMAN, OF BALTIMORE. MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO TAZEWELL T. THOMAS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

Application tiled June 7. 1918. Serial No. 772,284.

To nfl vello/1i. it may concern Bc it known that I, Amina'r A. HEYMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Reprodiicing Base-Ball Games, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing base ball games or other inciuents. acts or series of incidents at any distance from the point where they occur and almost simultaneously with their occurrence.

rThe result is accomplished by means of moving picture apparatus modified to suit the conditions presented and the invention resides in the method and in the apparatus as thus modified.

rlhough other incidents may be as conveniently handled, the reproduction and presentation of base ball games will be used as an example for the 'purpose of illustratin the invention.

l`he operation consists in first analyzing the game to determine the number and nature of the. possible )lays or those which are not of extremely infrequent oceuirence, and it should be noted that the nature of the game is such that practicallv all the plays can be thus determined an( standardized. After this luis been done. comparatively short film sections are prepared, cach illustrating the condition of the diamond with the players thereon and their actions during a particular play. The film sections thus prepared are )referably provided with means at their en s whereby they may be joined to form a continuous film though they mav be merely lapped and cemented.

he game is reported bytelegraph or telephone as it occurs, the report being rceeived by an attendant at the place of exliibition. The film sections illustratin the. standardized plays are assorted and in ixed. and as the report comes in, the ap ropriate sections are selected, attached en to end. and a continuous film illustrating each inning as reported is thus prepared, the game being presented to the audience innin f by innin one inning being received an set up wiile the previous one is being reproduced.

The invention, in so far as it resides in the apparatus, relates to the film sections illustrating the individual plays adapted to be joined together to form continuous films. These are arran ed, when ready for use, in sets, each set illustrating corresponding plays or portions of the. game, the showing of the sections of each set being varied in detail so as to show a large number of equivaient or coiresponding plays. The whole outfit consists of a series of thse sets, so that by clioosin a film section from each of se-veral sets and joining them in sequence, a continuous film is formed, showing the plays as they have occurred or as the operator may determine. rFliese. may be provided at their ends with tabs preferably half the thickness of the film which is usually of cclluloid, the ends of the celluloid strips being,r cut away or reduced to half their normal thickness so that the end of the tab may be. placed in the reduced portion or notch thus formed, the reduced film and the supcrimposed tab bein r of a thickness equal to that of the. remainder of the film. ll`hus when the free portions of the tabs at the meeting ends of two films arc superimposed on each other, the outer end of each tab abuts against the adjacent end of the other film, forming a continuous strip of uniform thickness, and for the purpose of joining they sections to form the strip. the. contacting surfaces of the tabs are pasted or cemented together preferably with an adhesive which can be conveniently softened and removed for the purpose of disjointing the films, or the tabs may be omitted and the films lapped and cemented.

In the accoiiipanyiii drawing I have illustrated a portion o the apparatus to which my invention relates in its preferred form, and I have also shown a battery of moving picture machines arranged to project tlie views of the game upon the screen.

Figure 1 is an enlarged perspective of the ineetin ends of two lm sections. one end tab being partiallfy unattached and rolled up for purposes o illustration. Fig. 2 is a longitut inal section of the same.. Fig. 3 is a reduced plan, portions of the films being broken away to make it possible to illustrate several sections. Fig. i is a diagram showing a battery of three moving picture machines as they are best used in reproducing ball gaines and the like according to my method.

The apparatus as shown consists of film sections l reduced at 2 to half their normal thickness, forming shoulders 3 spaced back from the ends a distance sufficient to provide for aflixing of the tabs 4. These consist of paper cloth or other tough and flexible mav terial and are of sufficient length so that when seated in the rabbet formed in the film by reducing its thickness at 2 and having their ends abutted against the shoulder 3, there is a free portion beyond the film forming a tab of sufficient length so that it can be joined to a similar tab on another filmI by means of glue or paste or some mechanical device. The connected films thus joined will rist all ordinary tensions which occur in the exhibiting machine, forming a continuous built-up or assembled film which may be used as long as it is of interest. The joint thus formed is shown in Fig. 2. As there shown the end of each tab at 5 abuts against the extreme end 6 of the reduced portion 2 of the adjacent film, thc film proper and the joint being continuous, smooth and of uniform thickness.

The film 1 is preferably of the perforated ty e which is capable of being positively driven, though any other variety of film may be utilized within the scope of the in-- vention. The perforations are indicated in the drawing by reference character 7.

In Fig. 3 a plan of the assembled film 8 is shown. In this figure the beginning and end of the adjacent film sections is indicated, and as hereinafter pointed out, it is important that the views adjacent these joining ends on the two adjacent films be either identical or substantially identical so as to present continuous action.

Various games are analyzed and the plays standardized, and the film sections showing the diamond during these plays are prepared after the usual manner, a troop of players making a s ecialty of this work being retained for this purpose. In this con nection it will be apparent that while certain identical plays are frequently repeated in the course of each me, the receding and following plays o ten differ in a way which would require a different settin at the beginning and ending of certain p ays which are otherwise identical. Therefore, certain of the plays must be illustrated by several different films varying as to the o ning or closing views accordin to the p ays which precede and follow t e particular one in question; and as far as pos sible the diamond is brou ht to a uniform condition at the end of eac play so that the film sections may be as nearly as possible identical' at their opening and closing scenes and thus ca able of being joined in the greatest num )er of permutations and eombinations to show continuous action. The word condition as used herein relates to the position and identity of the players presenten tlie diamond, uniform condition being when the same players are psmit in substantially the same positions.

For reproducing base ball games the film sections may be divided into a chosen number of main groups, each group illustrating correlated plays. Group No. 1 may include all plays made by batter, `pitcher, catcher, etc., with the bases clear. Group No. 2 may include all plays made on the field and diamond with a man on first base. Group No. 3 includes all plays made with a man on second base. Group No. 4 includes all plays` made with a man on third base. xroup No. 5 includes all plays made with men on first and second bases. Group No. 6 includes all plays made with men on first and third bases. Group No. 7 includes all plays made with men on second and third bases. Group No. 8 includes all plays made with men on first, second and third bases. However, the pla s may be otherwise grouped and subdivided within the scope of the invention.

All plays in group No. 1 commence with a man at the bat and no runners are shown on any of the bases. The ending scene, however, may show a man safe on anyone of the bases or may show the batter coming home, or the closing scene may show a man out at the bat, or on first, second, third or home. Thus all plays in grou No. 1 ending with the batter out at the at or while runninglaround bases, may be succeeded by some ot er play taken from group No. 1 but cannot be followed by a play from any other group, and all other plays of group No. l that end with the batter safe on first base, may be followed by some lay taken from group No. 2 and from no ot er group. This rule is true of all the various pla in the different groups. Those plays en 'ng with all men on bases out and batter out can be followed onl by plays in group No. 1, and all plays in t e di erent grou ending with a man safe on first base can followed by plays in group No. 2. All-playa ending with a man safe on second may be followed by pla s from group No. 3. All plays ending wit a man safe on first and third can be followed by plays taken from group No. 5 and from no other group.

As I have stated, the game is reported by telephone or telegraph to the place of exhibition at which a movin picture machine or preferably a batte o machines is provided. The film sections are indexed and arranged ao that they are easily identified and accessible, and a group of several at tendants is provided to manipulate them. Each innin is set up as re rted and exhibited whi e the following inning is being completed, and a continuous film is formed for each series of plays preferably covering the entire inning. As the plays are reported, the corresponding film sections are se Iected and affixed to each other so as to illustrate the plays in the order in which they are made, the first view of each section in the built-up film being identical with the hist view in the preceding section so that the film when exhibited will present substantially continuous action.

ll`he films are inserted in turn in the moving picture machines, three of which, 9, 10 and 11, as shown, may be used. These are focused on the screen 12, and in order that there may be no delay on account of the necessity for holding one machine inoperative while the film is inserted, the films are inserted alternately in the machines of the series, the exhibition being substantially continuous.

I have thus described and shown an apparatus embodying my invention. However, this is for the purposes of illustration and the specific terms herein are used in their description rather than in their limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claiml. Apparatus for reproducing and exhibiting base ball games, the same consisting of a series of sets of sections of moving picture film, the sections of each set each showing a selected portion of an act or game, the sections of each set showing corresponding and interchangeable acts or portions of the game, the showing of these corresponding sections being varied, the subjects of the sections of the different sets being acts or portions ofthe game which in the natural order of things may follow each other, so that a number of sections taken from each of several sets joined in sequence, will illustrate any one of several continuous innings or games capable of bein illustrated by different combinations of t e sections taken one from each of several sets.

2. Apparatus for reproducing and exhibitin base ball games, the same consisting of a p urality of sections of moving picture film, each showing a selected portion of an act or game, there being a number of sections showing corresponding acts or portions of different ames with varying detail, the'portions o the game illustrated by the different sections bein such that a series of sections showin iferent portions joined in sequence, will illustrate a continuous act or game, the first view of each section being the same as substantially the last of the preceding section whereby it is ossiblev to vary the selection of correspon ing sections and thus change the course of the game or series of acts reproduced.

3. Apparatus for reproducing and exhibiting base ball games and other acts or series of acts consisting in a pluralityof sections of moving picture film` the sections beingt arranged in sets, the films of each set showing corresponding portions of different games or corresponding acts of different series, the same being slightly varied according to the relation of such different games and acts to each other, each complete apparatus including a number of such sets, the subjects of the different sets being acts or portions of games occurring in sequence so that the sections can 'bezjoined in series, sections from several sets forming a single film showing a continuous series of acts or a game, and means for temporarily joining the film sections whereby by varying the selection of film sections from any of the different sets, the course of the game reproduced may be changed as desired.

4. Apparatus for reproducing and exhibiting base ball games consisting in a plurality of sections of moving picture film, the sections being arranged in sets, the films of each set showing corresponding portions of different games or corres onding acts of different series, the samebeing slightly varied accordin to the relation of such different games an acts to each other, each complete apparatus including a number of suoli sets, the subjects of the sets being acts or portions of games occurring in sequence so that the sections can be joined in series, sections from the different sets forming a single film showing a continuous series of acts or a game, the first and last view of each lm section being such that the films can be joined to give an effect of continuity, and means for joinin the film sections.

5. Apparatus or reproducing and exhibiting base ball games and other acts or series of acts, the same consisting of a series of sets or sections of moving picture film, the sections of each set each showing a selected portion of an act or gaine, the sections of each set showing correspondin and interchangeable acts or portions of t ie game, the showing of these corresponding sections being varied, the subjects of the sections of the different sets bein acts or portions of the game which in t e natural order of thin s may`fol1ow each other, so that a num er of sections taken from each of several sets joined in sequence, will illustrate any one of several continuous acts or games capable of being illustrated by different combinations of the sections taken from each of several sets.

6. Apparatus for reproducing base ball games by means of moving pictures which includes a number of sections of moving picture film, `each of which carries pictures of a particular play which mi ht occur in the course of a game of base bali; a different section for each different play to be represented and for each different condition of the field during each given play, the whole being so adapted and related substantially as hereinbefore described, that one combination of sections may be aembled to represent the continuous action of en inning or game of base ball, and enother combination of sections may be led to represent the continuous acten o! a different inning or game of base ball.

7. A paratus for reproducing base ball gemes y means of moving pictures, which includes a multiplicity of sections of mov- .ing picture film, each of which sections carries pictures of a particular play which mi toccurinthecourseofagameofbaee b I the sections bein related in groups, the closing ictures of l the sections of one group owing substantially the same general condition of the field as the .npenng pictures of the group which may be shown theafter, the -whole being so adapted and related se hereinbefore described, that one combination .of sections may be assembled to represent the continuous action of un inning or game of base ball, and another combination of sections may be assembled to represent the continuous action of a different inning or game of base ball.

Signed by lne at Baltimore, Md. this 5th day of June 1913,

ALBERT A. HEYMAN.

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Zaun Km, Josu E- Canes. 

